The Best Birthday Ever

The Pharisees were conservative and traditional men who tried to live out how the scribes interpreted the Torah. Nicodemus was also a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish council. They were deadly serious about their piety. That could be a good thing, or not. Jesus told Nicodemus his accomplishments didn’t matter. To know God, he would have to start over. He would have to be born again.

It seems we usually go the way of the prodigal son (outward sin, Romans 1:18-32) or the way of the elder brother (Romans 2:1ff). We sin with the flesh or with the spirit (actually, both). Many Pharisees became Jesus’ enemies. They didn’t like Him breaking the Sabbath and all the rules they strived to keep. They tended to be tough, judgmental, intolerant and proud of their own righteousness. But Jesus did not label people. He called individuals by name. This man was more than just a Pharisee; he was Nicodemus. Jesus was always searching for people to give them light and new life.

Followers of Jesus get to have two birthdays: First, we are born of the flesh. Second, we are born of the Spirit. To enter the kingdom of God, we need birth (flesh) and rebirth (the Spirit). To be born of the Spirit is to say “yes” to Jesus and to His gift of life.